Two-time Edgar Award nominee John Dunning was born on January 9, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. While still a young boy, he and his family moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he attended school until, at the age of 16, he dropped out to join the army. Following his brief stint in the military, Dunning worked as a glass cutter in Charleston and later as a groom for a number of horse trainers in Idaho and California. It was during that time that the writers' bug bit him. But unfortunately, no one would hire him for lack of formal education and experience. After many years of applying for newspaper jobs, Dunning finally landed a position as a library file clerk at the Denver Post in 1966. That job eventually led to writing assignments in the book-review section and later to news and investigative stories. Dunning also began alternative careers as a press secretary for various political campaigns, a local radio show host and producer, and a mystery novelist. While his first book, THE HOLLAND SUGGESTIONS, received minimal attention from readers and booksellers, his novels LOOKING FOR GINGER NORTH and DEADLINE both received Edgar nominations. In 1992, Dunning gained a following and received both the Nero Wolfe Award and an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association award for the novel BOOKED TO DIE, which features ex-cop turned rare-book dealer Cliff Janeway. Its long-awaited sequel, BOOKMAN'S WAKE, was published in 1995. Himself an expert on rare and collectible books, Dunning opened Denver's Old Algonquin Bookstore in 1984 and later launched an appointment-only, first edition business. Drawing on his career in radio and his knowledge of radio history, Dunning wrote ON THE AIR: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OLD-TIME RADIO in 1996.